4 Types of Questions to Ask in a Caregiver Interview

Studies show that interviews predict job performance; however, not all interviews are created equal. Carefully selected interview questions can make the difference between hiring an employee who’s rehearsed versus one who’s actually ready. With caregiver turnover on the rise, it’s especially important for home care providers to hire quality employees right from the get-go. One way to ensure that you find these valuable recruits is by choosing questions that filter for excellence. These four key question types, when used in balance, will give you a well-rounded view of your interviewee’s qualifications and personality.

Below are four different types of caregiver interview questions to guide home care providers in the interview process:

1. Direct questions

These questions, as their name suggests, get right to the point. “How do your skills qualify you for this job?” “What experience do you have working with clients with Alzheimer’s?” Straightforward questions aren’t usually a challenge to the interviewee, but they should help you to understand the caregiver’s background and skill set. This is also a great way to identify if the potential caregiver will be a great fit for your home care agency.

2. Behavioral questions

The idea that old habits die hard is the root of behavioral questions. If you have acted a certain way in the past, you’re likely to act the same way in the future. For this reason, behavioral questions ask about past situations to try and predict future work potential. For example, “Describe a time when you faced a difficult client and what you did to resolve the problem.” These questions tend to look more at personality and interpersonal conduct of the caregiver rather than specific skills.

3. Hypothetical questions

While behavioral questions refer to the caregiver’s past actions, hypothetical questions look at possible future situations. “What would you do if your client didn’t want to take her medication?” “How would you react if your client began to shout at you?” These questions measure how the caregiver’s past experience could be applied to their future work in the home care industry and determine if they would act appropriately in a difficult situation.

4. Skills questions

Skills questions and tests are used to measure very job-specific knowledge and skills. While some companies choose to use pre-employment tests to evaluate these areas, targeted interview questions can also help. These questions can address what to do in case of a stroke or the basics of medication management to ensure that your caregivers have the knowledge necessary to get started.

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Are you comfortable performing care/hygiene tasks for an elderly client?

Tell me about a mistake you made while caring for a client and how you handled it.

Are you able to work the hours needed?

Do you have a driver’s license? Do you have reliable transportation and insurance? How far can you drive to visit clients?

Are you willing to go to all caregiver training sessions?

Do you smoke?

Is there anything in the job description you are uncomfortable doing?

The interview process can be exhausting and at times frustrating, but if you ask the right questions, your caregiver interviews can be a time to discover employees who will aid your company for the time to come.

There are a ton of questions that you need to ask before choosing a caregiver for your elderly loved one and I think it’s great that the article breaks these down into different types. I particularly like that one of the categories that the article creates is skill questions. After all, you want to make sure that the caregiver has the necessary skills to care for your loved one.

My wife is thinking about getting a caregiver for her dad soon so thanks for sharing this. I like your point about asking the potential caregiver about their past experience with difficult clients. This sounds like an excellent way to evaluate how he or she would handle a difficult situation.